Lyft Inc. said Wednesday that it is discontinuing its direct car-rental business and is laying off about 60 people as a result.
A Lyft
LYFT,
spokeswoman confirmed a reorganization involving the move, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. She said the company, which launched a car-rental business in late 2019, will continue to enable third-party car rentals and that no other departments are affected.
“We have decided to discontinue Lyft’s first-party Rentals business to focus on our best-in-class third-party Rentals with Sixt
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and Hertz
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” spokeswoman Jodi Seth said. “This decision will ensure we continue to have national coverage and offer riders a more seamless booking experience.”
It is so far unclear what will happen to Lyft’s fleet of rental cars.
Lyft last laid off employees at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. At that time, nearly 1,000 people lost their jobs, representing 17% of the company’s workforce, and almost 300 were furloughed when the company’s ride-hailing business was hit hard by widespread lockdowns. The current layoffs affect less than 2% of its workforce.
In May, Lyft said it was slowing hiring and cutting budgets as its stock approached all-time lows. Its announcement came soon after rival Uber Technologies Inc.
UBER,
said it would undergo similar belt-tightening.
Lyft stock was trading almost 7% higher Wednesday. It has declined nearly 66% year to date. Uber stock was up about 6% Wednesday, and is down about 43% so far this year.
